There are numerous college resources for seniors in either of the counseling offices.

@GuidanceMedina

@GuidanceMedina

There are numerous college resources for seniors in either of the counseling offices.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 20.4 million students will attend a college or university this fall in the United States alone.

For many seniors, the college application process may seem overwhelming. However, the process can be broken down into steps, and many additional resources are available for Medina High School students.

According to MHS Guidance Counselor Mrs. Sarah Grether, the best place to start in the application process is to register for a Parchment account through the college applicant’s school email. “Parchment is an electronic way to send your transcripts to colleges, to view for yourself, if you are playing a sport in college you can send it through to the National Collegiate Athletic Association,” Grether said. “It’s a way to track who and when people are receiving your transcript.”

The next step is the application itself. The two main ways to apply for colleges is through the Common Application and through individual schools. “If you’re applying to four or five schools, you may want to look at the Common App, because that’s one application that you can send to multiple schools,” Grether said. “If you plan to apply to one or two schools, if you go directly through that college it’s a much shorter application.”

The Common App is one general application that over 700 colleges accept as their application. Grether said, “If you’re not sure if you need to fill out the common app you can go on to the website and see the colleges that use it.” The Common App is open now and is available at http://www.commonapp.org/.

One part of the application that may be necessary for some colleges is a letter of recommendation from a teacher. “I would always go to a teacher that you’ve had a couple of years or someone that you’ve had sophomore or junior year,” Grether stated. “Start with someone who knows you or a teacher who is in a field that is related to the major you want to pursue.”

Application deadlines can vary, but it is recommended to have all applications turned in by November 1. “I like to tell my students to have all their applications finished by November 1, that is our first college deadline,” Grether said. “So it makes sense that if you just submit everything by November 1 to each of your colleges.”

Once applications are turned in, the next recommended step is to file for scholarships and financial aid.

There are thousands of scholarship opportunities available but the Medina High School counselors help simplify the process by making many resources available in one place. “If you go to Blackboard under the Medina High School Counseling page, there is a link to scholarships. All national scholarships that come across our desk are on that webpage,” Grether said.

For Medina students, it is recommended to fill out the Universal Application. “There is an application that’s open for three weeks in February, you have to fill it out during that time period,” Grether stated. “You fill out that application, and then just check off the boxes for any of the scholarships that you meet the criteria for, and we actually distribute your application to those places.” At the senior awards banquet last year, over $137,000 in scholarships were awarded to Medina seniors.

Another method to make college more affordable is by filling out the Free Application for Student Aid. Grether said, “Students can get loans or that free money through the government. If you don’t fill out the FAFSA, a lot of schools will not consider you for scholarships, so make sure that you know if it’s a requirement or not for your college.”

To receive daily tweets about scholarships and other important updates, follow MHS Guidance on Twitter at @GuidanceMedina. For more information on the college application process, go to the Medina Counseling page on Blackboard.